One Year: Reflections and Celebrations

On July 17, my husband and I celebrated our one year anniversary. A relatively short amount of time in the scheme of life, but significant nonetheless. To celebrate we went to our favorite spot on Cape Cod. As you probably know from my previous postings, the Cape has been my favorite getaway since I could walk. Now it holds both old memories from my many summers spent with family and friends, and recent trips with my husband. The place is also significant because it is where Carlos proposed to me. As I reflect back on this past year, I think about all the changes we made together, while still keeping some old traditions from our dating years.

As is the case when living with someone new, there are many adjustments to be made. One big adjustment was learning how to cook for two. We ate a lot of leftovers the first few months as I juggled with the portion sizes. Luckily, OWL has some great cookbooks about cooking for two. In Cooking for Two: 120 Recipes for Every Day and Those Special Nights, the authors provide some unique recipes ranging from simple pasta dishes to more fancy meats. All are designed specifically for two people. Carlos and I both love Hispanic food, and the Swiss Chard Enchiladas are a unique twist on the standard ones served in restaurants. I especially love the desserts section. I am jealous that Carlos does not have the sweet tooth I often do, so it’s great to have recipes that only yield small batches, like the Black Forest Cake. The Rustic Apple Tart is a perfect dessert for both of us because it’s naturally sweetened with fruit.

Cooking for Two: The Year’s Best Recipes Cut Down to Size offers a nice range of recipes. We don’t eat red meat, so we do a lot of chicken and turkey. The Lighter Chicken Parmesan is delicious with half the calories of regular chicken parm. Many times we don’t even add the sauce, as seasoned panko crumbs have their own delicious flavor. This recipe book also has a little section called “use it up:” giving the reader ideas on how to use up any additional ingredients not used in the original recipe.

At our favorite restaraunt on Cape Cod

While we don’t have the typical “date night” anymore, we still make time to go out together and do special things. In the colder months, that means movie nights. We love going to the cinema in Bantam because of the cozy, intimate atmosphere. Most of the time though we will cook up some dinner at home and pop in a DVD from OWL’s superb collection. Some favorites this winter included: Planes, Train and Automobiles, The Pink Panther with Steve Martin, Seabiscuit, Inception, and Shutter Island. I love older, classic films, but Carlos usually snoozes through them. Once in awhile I’ll sneak one in, and sometimes he’ll get hooked; like with Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn.

In the summer we are out and about: swimming, canoeing, and biking. Most times we’ll just take the bike around town for a nice long ride, but Short Bike Rides in the Berkshires offer some lovely and scenic routes around Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge, an area that we love to visit. We took our bikes along with us to the Cape and biked to the beach every day. The Cape offers exquisite biking trails, in particular the Province Lands bike paths. While we know most of the trails in Truro, Cape Cod, the Massachusetts Trail Guide helped us discover some new ones the Beech Forest Trail which leads through fragrant pitch pines, and around a stunning lake full of bird life.

To learn a bit more about Cape Cod and the Islands, I recommend reading The Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket by Paul Schneider. The Cape is rich with history; as you probably know the pilgrims landed there, finding corn and a spring with fresh water in Truro. Provincetown, next to Truro at the very tip of the Cape was a large fishing and whaling community.

Our anniversary week at the Cape was fabulous. We enjoyed watching sunsets at the beach (the only spot on the east coast where you can see the sun go down directly over the water), eating at our favorite restaraunts, strolling and biking through town, and relaxing on the beach. Carlos even caught his first, big saltwater fish (a 32 inch blue fish!). It was a great time for reflection on our first year together, and the celebration of many more to come.

~”For the gifts of life are the earth’s and they are given to all, and they are the songs of birds at daybreak, Orion and the Bear, and dawn seen over ocean from the beach”~Henry Beston.

Sarai is the Publicity Coordinator and Library Assistant who, like her husband, is already missing the calm, other-worldliness that is Truro, Cape Cod.